THE 2009 CINO AWARDS – NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!!

The 2009 CINO (Catholic In Name Only) Award Nominations are now open. Due to the sheer volume of possibilities, the 2009 CINO awards will be limited to elected officials in the United States, given their unique ability to affect and influence our lives. (I certainly encourage folks in others countries to start their own CINO awards.)

The purpose of this exercise is NOT to place ourselves in judgment of others, but rather as observers of behaviorwithin the context of Catholic teaching as set forth in the Catechism. There is only one ultimate Judge and we are not Him. Please act accordingly and in charity.

That said, politicians who refer to themselves as Catholic assume responsibility for all that entails. To not live up to those responsibilities causes confusion and scandal to others and puts souls in jeopardy. They must either live up to their responsibilities as Catholics or stop referring to themselves publicly as Catholics. If they have questions regarding what those responsibilities are, they have a bishop who will be more than happy to help.

Meanwhile, the 2009 CINO Awards will try to identify those politicians who are presently struggling with these responsibilities, so that the rest of us might not be led astray by their example.

Please submit your nominations below, along with a short description of why this person deserves consideration. A nominee who puts up big numbers of lapses and is consistent and obstinate in his or her defiance of Church teaching carries a lot of weight with the committee but bold, stunning, jaw-dropping offenses are also worth noting.

UPDATE: 12/14/09 PM.

I regret that I was forced to remove or edit several of the comments below. I also removed several comments that by themselves were fine and in fact charitable responses to those who deviated from the purpose of this exercise. I appreciate those efforts but felt it best to remove them as well as they would only make people wonder what they missed. I also understand the passion in play here. However, let us avoid personal attacks, pray for our bishops and priests who must shepherd us against a powerful current and pray for these nominees and help guide them home by our example.

Nancy Pelosi. I think after she met with the Pope and still was pro-abort you have to consider Nancy Pelosi a top runner. Not to mention her vigorous defense of health care with abortion and euthanasia in.

Nancy Pelosi! Definiately! For the same reasons as above. Her nerve after her meeting with the Pope to dodge the issues and ignore what the Vicar of Christ said to her on the sanctity of human life. Just one question, will you be presenting bell, book and candle to the successful nominee, all to silenced, closed and extinguished? I think an excommunication would go well with the CINO.

Patrick Kennedy has to be in this list. Pelosi hides from her bishop but Kennedy is begging for his own excommunication publicly attacking his bishop. Even after a bishop rebukes, he skips down the wide path gleefully. He would be better off as a KINO(Kennedy) than a CINO.
I guess we are not including presidents of universities for this award….

Every single person past the age of reason who calls himself”Catholic” yet does not believe every single thing that the Church puts forth for our belief as Almighty God has pronounced it through His Bride.
For many years I called myself Catholic, but continued to live in unrepentant sin and therefore was a catholic in name only.
By the grace of Almighty God and many prayers from loved ones, I can now again call myself, Catholic.
Deus Vult!

They need to give multiple first place awards. There are at least 25 elected officials, several U S Ambassadors to foreign countries, 100’s of members of religious communities, and dozens of leaders of so-called catholic institutions of higher education.

I wish we could include ambassadors (but they’re not elected), as I would put Doug Kmiec at the top of the list. Pelosi, Biden, et al, are what they are but are not evangelical for their positions except by example. Kmiec went out of his way to sway other Catholics into that line of thinking.

Also, does “elected” include, say, a president of an organization who was elected by a board of trustees? If so, I would also put Fr. Jenkins of Notre Dame University into the running.

I’ll nominate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for saying that Obama is more Catholic than the pope. Or for this: As Catholics, are we so laser focused on the issue of abortion that we are willing to join tea partiers…” or this: I want Catholic bishops to heed the Vatican’s call for charity and justice for all, not just for the wealthy and well connected. Question: What will the award look like? Oscar like perhaps except with a big more weight? Maybe it could be affectionately called a “Ted.”

Why not have first, second, and third places? Plus, the winner – Nancy Pelosi is my pick – gets all readers/voters of this blog to promise to pray.
We’d all got to Mass, do a Holy Hour, and say the Rosary for the conversion of the winner at the March for Life in January.

I’m going to go with the Washington State trifecta of our governor Christine Gregoire and both US Senators Cantwell and Murray. All three claim to be Catholics and all three are big pro-abortion supporters.

I really hoped this could be an exercise in Catholic charity and not a giant playground fight. I apologize to those readers who were exposed to comments that were not made in the spirit of this project and thank those who attempted to counter them before I could tend to the combox. The comments in question as well as the related responses have been removed so we can focus on the task at hand. Thank you for your understanding.